We are happy to announce the completion of a new process that allows for single t-shirts to be printed: Digital Printing. Customers have been asking for this for a long time now and, well…
One of our first digitally printed shirts!
-The turnaround is much faster, at least half the time of screen printed shirts. We will be able to make that even faster as time goes by. Our goal is to print and ship in 24 hours!
-If an order is less than 10 pieces, the cost per shirt is dramatically lower in comparison to screen printing. We are always looking for ways to save our customers as much money as possible.
-We can achieve a much higher level of detail. This is great because we can now do more complex designs.
-Colors look great, just like screen printing but when the two are next to each other, one will look better than the other. The two processes differ enough that getting identical results is impossible.
-Texture is smoother and flatter than screen printing. This can be good or bad.
-When we print on white or very light shirts, we cannot use an under-base. This leaves the print sinking into the garment a bit. Its not a major issue, though.
-Digital Prints do not launder as well as screen printing. Washing and drying your shirt with hot water and high heat with rough texture cloths, like jeans, will tear up the image a bit. Doing that multiple times will result in the print looking horribly peeled after about 10 washings.
The Digital Print Machine
-Some ink colors cannot be reproduced: glow-in-the-dark, metallic inks, suede texture, fluorescent inks. For now, the online ordering system is not aware of this limitation. Don’t worry, we are working on fixing this issue. We will call you if there is a concern.
We sent out some samples to customers to find out what people thought of the new process. Customers received a screen printed t-shirt and a digital printed t-shirt of the same design. This was done, primarily, to answer the question: “Is it as good as screen printing?” The results of the survey are in! Most people liked the digital print, but felt it was not quite as good as screen printing. Less than 10% felt the digital print was bad.
We are happy with being able to offer something that comes this close to screen printing. As technology improves, we hope to get the process so perfect no one can tell the difference.
Click here!
To ramp up production we are limiting the single t-shirt orders to S110 (100% cotton t-shirts only).
You want to order? Make your design, and then click the ‘order t-shirts with this design’. Click the left hand ‘pick garment sizes’ button. Prices are $18.95 for a one-sided print and 26.95 for a two-sided print. Both come with unlimited ink colors. Shipping is free if you order over $50.
**Edited 12/15/09: Price for two-sided print is 26.95, not 27.95.